Downlight with multiplier cone

ABSTRACT

A downlight with a multiplier cone is disclosed which has a unitary structure a parabolic reflector section and a multiplier cone section, thereby permitting a conventional incandescent light bulb to be used in place of a reflector lamp or spotlight. The downlight has been so designed as to accommodate a reflector type lamp or conventional incandescent light bulb. The downlight cooperates with a plaster frame on which are mounted spring clips which permit adjustment of the fixture to conform to ceiling contour. Further, the downlight may be installed or replaced after completion of the ceiling.

United States Patent [1 1 Docimo DOWNLIGHT WITH MULTIPLIER CONE [75]Inventor: Peter J. Docimo, N'orthridge, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Marvin Electric Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles,Calif.

[22] Filed: Feb. 14, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 332,350

[52] U.S. Cl. 240/73 BC, 240/78 H, 240/143 [51] Int. Cl. F215 1/02, F21s3/02, F215 5/00 [58] Field of Search 240/41.37, 73 BC, 78 R, 240/78 HA,78 H, 143

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,037,110 5/1962 Williams240/78 H 3,187,174 6/1965 Gerstel ct al. 240/78 H 3,286,090 11/1966Brown 240/78 H 3,700,885 10/1972 Bobrick 240/78 H [451 Apr. 2, 19743,721,817 3/1973 Contratto 240/73 BC Primary ExaminerSamuel S. MatthewsAssistant ExaminerRichard A. Wintercom Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lyon &Lyon [57] ABSTRACT A downlight with a multiplier cone is disclosed whichhas a unitary structure a parabolic reflector section and a multipliercone section, thereby permitting a conventional incandescent light bulbto be used in 1 place of a reflector lamp or spotlight. The downlighthas been so designed as to accommodate a reflector type lamp orconventional incandescent light bulb. The downlight cooperates with aplaster frame on which are mounted spring clips which permit adjustmentof the fixture to conform to ceiling contour. Further, the downlight maybe installed or replaced after completion of the ceiling.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TMENIEDAFR 21914 3801815 sum 2 0F 2 YDOWNLIGHT WITH MULTIPLIER CONE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Downlightswith multiplier cones have become a standard item for illuminating areaswhere it is desired that the source of illumination be effectivelyhidden from persons entering the area. Such lights utilize a reflectorlamp or spotlight in combination with a multiplier cone, the combinationbeing installed in the ceiling of the area to be illuminated. The effectof the multiplier cone is to reduce glare to a minimum and to direct thelight produced by the lamp almost completely downward. The reflectorlamp is recessed in the multiplier cone so that is is notvisible unlessthe viewer is within the cone of light produced by the fixture, a conethat generally extends below the lamp so that it does not produceobjectional glare from the cone reflector or lamp at a viewing angle ofapproximately 45 or more.

While such fixtures have found satisfactory use, they have thedisadvantage of requiring a reflectorlamp instead of a conventionalincandescent bulb. Such reflector lamps are more expensive thanconventional bulbs and moreover require that an inventory of twodifferent type bulbs be maintained. Efforts have been made to provide afixture having the advantages of the'conventional downlight withmultiplier cones but using a conventional incandescent bulb instead of areflector type lamp, but these efforts have not been completelysuccessful. Attempts have been made to simply substitute an incandescentbulb for a reflector lamp in the conventional fixture 'but is has beenfound that the efficiency of the fixture is considerably reduced becausea significant amount of the light radiated from the bulb is not properlyreflected for maximum efficiency. It is very often reflected back on tothe bulb rather than directed downwardly out of the fixture.

The most successful proposal from the standpoint of efficiency has beenthe provision of a housing which is inserted into the ceiling and whichhas as a fixed part thereof a parabolic reflector having a socket forreceiving an incandescent bulb. The housing is adapted to receive amultiplier cone in its lower section so that both of the requisiteelements of the reflector system are present in one housing. However,this type of fixture has several disadvantages. The housing isrelatively bulky and difficult to handle and adds another item ofexpense to the overall fixture. Furthermore, it is necessary that thehousing be installed early in the construction procedure, that is,before such steps as plastering or painting are completed. This order ofprocedure raises substantial dangers that the fixture will be damagedduring plastering or painting. Finally, it is necessary that themultiplier cone be adjustable within the housing to permit its loweredge which defines its exit plane to be positioned parallel with theceiling to provide the desired appearance. This adjustability istypically permitted by the use of leaf springs mounted on the housing.However, as the parabolic reflector is fixedly mounted in the housing,adjustment of the multiplier cone will result in it being canted withrespect to the parabolic reflector with the result that proper lightdistribution is adversely affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, thesedisadvansection of the fixture to automatically establish the de- Isired relationship of the downlight to the ceiling. The downlight isalso provided with a simple mechanism to permit it to be attached to apreviously positioned and installed lamp socket. Thus, the downlight canbe installed after all the other construction procedures have beencompleted by the simple expedient of connecting the already installedsocket to the upper end of the downlight and then inserting thedownlight into the plaster frame until the overlap ring engages theceiling. The downlight will be held in this position by the spring clipson the plaster frame.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide animproved downlight with multiplier cone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view, partly insection of a fixture according to the present invention installed in aplaster ring positioned in a ceiling;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 andshowing the spring clip assembly used in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the socket assemblyused in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second socket housingconfiguration.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the socket mounting plate of the housing ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the housing of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Turning to the several figures, there isshown the unitary downlight with multiplier cone fixture l0 according tothe present invention. The downlight 10 comprises a multiplier cone 11having an upwardly projecting flange 12 at its lower end, a parabolicreflector 13, and a transition section 14 joining the multiplier conewith the parabolic reflector. The sections l1, l3 and 14 can be joinedtogether in any desired fashion but preferably are joined by a rollingtype operation so that no rivets or screws are required. The parabolicreflector 13 is provided with a flange 15 to permit it to be attached toa socket housing 16 which is preferably provided with heat radiatingfins 17. The reflector l3 and the housing 16 can be attached in anysuitable manner; as shown, by a plurality of bolts, one of which isshown as 18.

The socket housing 16 .is adapted to be easily connected to a socketmounting plate 19, for example, by means of a plurality of screws 20which screw into ears 21 forming a part of the socket housing 16 andwhich have heads which extend over the plate 19 to hold it in place.Affixed to the plate 19 is a lamp socket 22 adapted to receive anordinary incandescent bulb 23. The socket 22 is connected to aconventional junction box 24 be means of a flexible conduit 25 ofconventional design. The junction box 24 can be mounted in the ceilingin any conventional fashion, for example, it can be attached to theplaster frame in a known manner.

Because the downlight is constructed to permit installation andreplacement after completion of the ceiling, it is necessary that thejunction box 24 can be connected with the downlight 10 at the time thedownlight is installed. The present embodiment provides for a convenientcoupling of the junction box 24 to the downlight 10 at the socketmounting plate 19. In FIGS. 1 and 3 the socket mounting plate 19 is heldin position on the socket housing 16 by the plurality of screws 20. InFIGS. 4, & 6, a single fastener 20a is employed to fix the socketmounting plate 19a to the socket housing 16a. By employing a singlefastener 20a, the installation of the downlight is simplified. This isof significant benefit because assembly of the socket mounting plate 19aand the housing 16a must be accomplished near the ceiling unless a longflexible conduit 25 is employed.

The single screw socket mounting assembly includes a cylindrical conduitclamp 33a which is formed as part of a circular mounting plate 19a. Thecylindrical conduit clamp 33a intersects the circular socket mountingplate 19a such that the center lined the cylindrical conduit clamp 33apasses below and substantially parallel to the socket mounting plate19a. Further, the center line of the cylindrical conduit clamp 33apasses below the center of the circular socket mounting plate 19a. Toaccommodate the cylindrical conduit clamp 330, a notch 34a is cutthrough the housing 16a of the socket mounting assembly. This notch 34ahas a semicircular section 35a having a diameter substantially equal tothe diameter of the cylindrical conduit clamp 33a. The notch 34a isequal in depth to the distance from the surface plane of the socketmounting plate 19a which mates with the housing 16a to the lower mostelement of the cylindrical conduit clamp 33a.

Depending from the cylindrical conduit clamp 33a is a ridge 36a. Thisridge 36a is positioned to interfere slightly with the housing 16a justbelow the notch 35a. When the socket mounting plate 19a is positioned onthe housing 16a, this ridge 36a has an outer surface 37a which is causedto interfere with the housing 16a. The surface 37a has a radius ofcurvature which is slightly smaller than the inside radius of thehousing 16a as can be seen in FIG. 6. This interference insures that theridge 36a will properly bind with the housing 16a below the notch 35a.

Two fingers 38a are integrally formed with the socket mounting plate 19aand the conduit clamp 33a at either side of the conduit clamp 33a. Thesefingers 380 also interfere slightly with the housing 16a when the socketmounting plate 19a is properly positioned on the housing 16a. The innersurface 39a of the fingers 38a has a radius of curvature substantiallyequal to the inner radius of the housing 16a as can best be seen in'FlG.6. These fingers 38a extend below the socket mounting plate 19a adistance approximately equal to the distance from the socket mountingplate 19a to the center line of the circular conduit clamp 33a.

To assemble the socket mounting plate 19a with the housing 16a, thesocket mounting plate 19a is brought into contact with the housing 16aso that the cylindrical conduit clamp 33a rests on the bottom of thenotch 35a. The socket mounting plate 19a must be tipped slightly withrespect to the housing 16a in order that the depending ridge 36a and thetwo fingers 38a will not bind on the housing 16a. Because the socketmounting plate 19a is tipped, the conduit clamp 33a will come 7 intocontact with the housing 16a before the socket mounting plate 190. Oncethe cylindrical conduit clamp 33a is positioned in the notch 35a, thesocket mounting plate 19a may be tipped back in order that the lowersurface of the socket mounting plate 19a will mate with the upper edgeof the housing 16a. The ridge 36a and the fingers 38a are then forced tointerfere with the side of the housing 16a as shown in FIG. 6. A singlefastener 20a is then threaded through the plate 19a and into the housing16a. An ear 21a is sized to secure the fastener 20a in place. Thefastener 20a insures that the socket mounting plate 19a will remainjuxtaposed with the upper edge of the housing 16a; and consequently, thefingers 38a and the ridge 36a will be locked on the housing 16a.

The plaster frame 26 is of generally conventional design and is attachedto ceiling support members 27 in the known fashion.- Unlike conventionalplaster frames, however, the plaster frame 26 is provided with aplurality of upstanding brackets 28 on which are mounted spring clips 29which engage the outer periphery of the multiplier cone 11 (as bestshown in FIG. 2) to securely hold the entire downlight 10 in place. Theactual positioning of the downlight 10 within the plaster frame 26 isdetermined by an overlap ring 30 which has a flanged edge 31 which fitswithin the upturned flange 12 of multiplier cone 11. The overlap ring 30lies flat against the ceiling 32 to establish the position of thedownlight 10.

The construction of the downlight 10 permits it to be installed afterall of the other construction procedures have been completed. Theplaster ring 26 is, of course, installed in place after the ceilingsupports 27 are installed but before the ceiling 32 is completed.Similarly, the junction box 24 is installed and the socket plate 19 withits socket 22 is connected to the junction box 24 by the flexibleconduit 25. After the ceiling 32 is completed, the overlap ring 30 ispositioned over the flange 12, the socket plate 19 pulled down throughthe plaster ring by means of the flexible conduit 25 and the plate 19attached to the socket housing 17 by means of screws 20. The entirefixture assembly is then inserted through the plaster ring until theoverlap ring engages the ceiling 32. The exit plane of the multipliercone 11 is now parallel with the ceiling 32 and will be held in thisposition by the action of the spring clips 29. When energized, the lightfrom the lamp bulb 23 will be reflected by the parabolic reflector 13 ina manner equivalent to the more expensive reflector lamp. Thecombination of the bulb 23 and the reflector 13 will present to themultiplier cone 1 l the proper light pattern to enable the cone toproduce the desired illumination in an effective and efficient manner.

While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that manymore modifications are possible without departing from the inventiveconcepts herein described. The invention, therefore, is not to berestricted except as is necessary by the prior art and by the spirit ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A lighting fixture comprising a parabolic reflector and a multipliercone connected together in a unitary assembly; a socket housingconnected to the parabolic reflector for receiving a socket, the socketadapted to receive an incandescent light bulb; a plaster frame forinstallation in a ceiling, the plaster frame including a plurality ofbrackets each mounting a spring clip for cooperating with the outersurface of the multiplier cone to hold the latter in any one of aplurality of possible positions; and an overlap ring engageable with thelower edge of the multiplier cone and adapted to engage the ceiling toposition the lower edge of the multiplier cone parallel to the ceiling.

2. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the parabolic reflector, themultiplier cone exclusive of the lower edge of the multiplier cone andthe socket housing fit through the frame for assembly into anestablished ceiling.

3. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the socket is mounted on a socketplate, and wherein means are provided for detachably connecting thesocket plate to the socket housing. a

4. The fixture of claim 3 wherein the socket plate includes clampingmeans for fixing the socket plate to the socket housing comprising afirst member depending from the socket plate positioned to interferewith the inside of the socket housing when the socket plate is in place;second members depending from the socket plate and disposed on eitherside of the first depending member to interfere with the outside of thesocket housing when the socket plate is in place; a fastenerdiametrically opposite the first depending member to fasten the socketplate and the socket housing.

5. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the lower edge of the multiplier coneis bent to extend outwardly and upwardly to receive a cooperatingportion of the overlap ring.

1. A lighting fixture comprising a parabolic reflector and a multipliercone connected together in a unitary assembly; a socket housingconnected to the parabolic reflector for receiving a socket, the socketadapted to receive an incandescent light bulb; a plaster frame forinstallation in a ceiling, the plaster frame including a plurality ofbrackets each mounting a spring clip for cooperating with the outersurface of the multiplier cone to hold the latter in any one of aplurality of possible positions; and an overlap ring engageable with thelower edge of the multiplier cone and adapted to engage the ceiling toposition the lower edge of the multiplier cone parallel to the ceiling.2. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the paraBolic reflector, themultiplier cone exclusive of the lower edge of the multiplier cone andthe socket housing fit through the frame for assembly into anestablished ceiling.
 3. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the socket ismounted on a socket plate, and wherein means are provided for detachablyconnecting the socket plate to the socket housing.
 4. The fixture ofclaim 3 wherein the socket plate includes clamping means for fixing thesocket plate to the socket housing comprising a first member dependingfrom the socket plate positioned to interfere with the inside of thesocket housing when the socket plate is in place; second membersdepending from the socket plate and disposed on either side of the firstdepending member to interfere with the outside of the socket housingwhen the socket plate is in place; a fastener diametrically opposite thefirst depending member to fasten the socket plate and the sockethousing.
 5. The fixture of claim 1 wherein the lower edge of themultiplier cone is bent to extend outwardly and upwardly to receive acooperating portion of the overlap ring.